ISGYB - One-Shots
by NatashaAshleyMarvelRomanoff
Summary: This is a follow-up story of one-shots based around my previous story 'I'm So Gad You're Back'. This story will include one-shots of the lives of Natasha and Steve before they were together, after, during the snap and after they brought everyone back. chapter 1 - 5 times steve thought about proposing and the 1 time he did.
1. 5 times Steve thought about proposing

5 times steve thought about proposing and the 1 time he did.

1\. 1 year after the accords.

The rain falls softly against the little window of the motel they've been staying in for the past few days. The darkness outside soaking up the dim light from the lamp sitting next to steve, making the droplets on the window disappear. If it wasn't for the sound of pitter-patter against the glass you wouldn't even tell it had rained.

The blonde, who had been sat up in bed for over an hour now was carefully pressing his pencil in soft strokes over a page in the back of the small notebook he had now turned into a little book of sketches instead. Next to him laid the woman he loved, lost in sleep for the first time in days. Natasha is laid on the right side of the small double bed on her left side facing him, her left hand under her head and the right splayed out next to her face.

Now and then steve would look up from his little sketchbook and steal a stare at the spy that stole his heart. But the time he spent in-between those glances, steve drew. And it was as if he drew without realising what it was he was drawing until he was finished and lifted his head from the angle of looking down and looked upon the pencil markings on the page.

It was a ring.

Steve drew a ring. And not just any, from the depth of his memory steve had drawn a ring that looked exactly like the one his mother wore. 3 diamonds all next to each other, the middle one bigger than the other two and encased in a silver band with little markings and detail surrounding them.

Taking in the sight of the drawing, steve also took in a deep breath. His eyes never leaving the paper until he heard a sound to the right of him. Natasha had moved slightly in her sleep, causing her to roll over onto her back. For a second, steve let himself think of seeing this every morning for the rest of his life. Falling asleep and waking up next to Natasha every day and night.

He imagines what it would be like to marry her. To see a ring that means so much to him on her finger, forever binding them together. Steve knew there was no one else for him. It had always been her. And it always will be. And now that they were finally together after years of bad timing he couldn't stomach the thought of being apart from her ever again. But he wouldn't ask her. Not this soon. Officially they had only been together for nearly 3 months. The accords and the berlin fight nearly a whole year ago now. He didn't know how long they would be on the run for or if they would even stop but he knew that one day he would ask. But now wasn't the right time for either of them. It had only been 3 months and steve knew if he did ask it would scare her.

So with one last glance at the page, steve ran his thumb over the page and closed the book, leaning over the edge of the bed to slip it back into his go-bag next to the bed. Once sitting upright again, steve twisted his torso and reached over for the dim lamp stood on his bedside table and turned it off, the room fully being immersed into darkness with the sound of rain slowly lightening up.

Shifting his body down the bed, steve stopped once his head finally met the pillow and he carefully manoeuvred the duvet over him properly. But then another whimper came from Natasha's lips, her head turning slightly as she tossed in bed. Steve knew by now that the small whimpers and sound she made, the little movements were nothing like when she had her bad nightmares, just bad memories or thoughts that showed up in her sleep. So steve pushed himself closer to Natasha, lying himself on his side and he curled up against her, his left arm slowly snaked under her head cushioning her with himself and his right arm rested on her side, curling all the way around until his hand is over her stomach, pulling her closer to him until her back meets his front. Once he's closed the distance between them, his spy now safely nestled in his embrace, the little whimpers and movements become slower and quieter, slowly disappearing from her dreams. Once satisfied with his efforts to calm her in her sleep, steve rests his head behind her, the smell of her hair in his nostrils as he finally succumbs to sleep, holding the love of his life in arms and imagining what it would be like to marry Natasha and spend the rest of their lives together and hoping one day, maybe he could get the ring he drew made for her, so she could keep it forever.

2.1 year together.

It's weird to think it has been a whole year since they ended up together. They didn't spend it like how other couples did. Instead, they had been on the run from the government and in hiding from 117 countries. But that small set back didn't stop them. And it certainly made sam even happier to have his 2 best friends end up together too, not only because he had been rooting for them since the start but also because he's been able to have his own bed for the entire year now instead of swapping in and out with steve for who had to sleep on the couch or even having to share the bed with the super-soldier sometimes.

And coincidently, the same night as their 1st anniversary also happened to end up on a day that they didn't have to do anything but relax. Most of the time they had leads or missions that need to be taken care of but tonight was one of the rare ones where they could do whatever they wanted. And in the light of their anniversary, sam suggested they all go out for drinks to celebrate. Steve was a little hesitant at first, still wary of being caught or seen but was soon convinced by his best friend and girlfriend who were extremely excited by the idea of a night of letting go.

So in a little town inside of Mexico, the three former avengers got ready and found a busy bar, well it was more of a club, but nat and sam knew if they told steve it was a club then he probably wouldn't have gone. But if they were gonna spend time having some fun and not get caught, being surrounded by drunk people dancing was better than a quiet bar.

After a few hours and quite a few drinks, or more than quite a few in sams case, the three headed out to the dance floor, steve was awkward at first, not really knowing how to dance in the way everyone around him was, hell, he had only ever danced with Natasha to slow music like how they did in his day. This was something entirely new to him even if he had been out of the ice for 7 years already. But Natasha was right there for him, smirking at him as she dragged him by his arm closer to her until they were touching chest to chest. She pulled on his arm again, pulling him down slightly until their faces were now touching each other, their lips gently going over each other, barely touching as she teased him. Then, teasing him, even more, she quickly away from him and lifted both her arms to wrap them around his neck. His own hands instinctively placing on her hips as she started to sway them.

She didn't push for him to dance too wildly, even just in a club with drunk people surrounding them whilst swaying was making him blush to his ears already. But despite the blush colouring him pink, the dozens of young adults all crammed together, smelling of sweat and alcohol as they danced to the hideous rave music, All it took was one look at the woman in his arms and all that went away. The music blurred in his ears and the people around them disappeared from his view.

Natasha was all he could see. Her eyes were closed as she listened to the music and let it carry her away fro a few minutes. Pretending like she had nothing to worry about or nothing to do the day after, steve could feel her grip around his shoulders and neck and she held onto him, enjoying the feeling of letting go for once. As he gazed upon her face, he couldn't help but just remind himself of the little drawing he had made 9 months earlier when he had been sat in bed with Natasha at his side asleep.

It had been a while since hed looked at the sketch. But it was in moments like this when he would get totally lost in Natasha that he was reminded of it. If it wasn't for the fact they were in the middle of a club and it smelled like Bio and vodka he would have dropped to his knees right there and then and asked her to marry him in an instant. But she deserved better. And if his mother was keeping an eye on him from the grave she'd probably haunt him for the rest of his life for proposing to his girlfriend in such circumstances. So steve pushed the idea from his mind for now. Just allowing himself to get lost like her. In the music, the dancing, her.

3.2 months before the Snap.

It should have been a routine mission like they always were. Well, as routine as being on the run and running illegal missions could be. They were over in Belarus following a lead on some chitauri weapons that had been stolen back in 2012 when they were ambushed. The three avengers had not realised that the arms dealers trying to sell them had known they were coming. So the mission went south, really south. Amidst the fight between the dealers and the trio, one of the alien weapons had been fired, aimed at the ceiling blowing a huge hole into the metal and rock, causing the roof to cave in. the three all ran out of the way and into the corners of the room to find some protection from the falling debris of concrete. But for one of the Avengers, they didn't make it out of the way in time. As the roof fell in, the slabs of rock were falling to fast for Natasha to dodge and run to safety. And eventually, one large piece landed right in front of her, causing her to jump and fall back into another piece of stone just as more debris fell right on top of her, piercing through her lower abdomen and trapping her leg. The blonde let out a cry from the pain. Alerting her teammates to where she was.

Once the building had stopped falling apart, steve and sam finished off knocking out the remaining dealers and buyers if they weren't already dead from the collapse and then went to dig out Natasha. They found her in the far corner of the warehouse, her whimpers and screams allowing them o find her. Steve rushed as fast as he could towards where his girlfriends were pinned. Quickly lifting tons of stone and rock with ease, relieving the pressure from her leg and stomach, but the piece that had ripped through her skin was still impaled. After removing the weight, the blonde man reached over for Natasha, his hand caressing her cheek and he pulled her face towards his direction to make sure she was okay. Natasha could barely keep conscious at this point, her eyes kept opening and closing until they were shut completely, the weigh of trying to keep them open dragging them down. Steve beckoned for sam to go get the quinjet ready and bring it closer for them. They had kept it a few blocks away but close enough to get to once the fight was over, but since sam had his wings he would get there in no time at all so he could bring it back as fast as he could.

As the lovers waited for the jet, steve kept his hand pressed against her stomach, applying as much pressure as he could to the wound, where the concrete shred was still stuck in and also talking to her to try and keep her awake. But it was no use, she was already falling into unconsciousness. Sam soon returned with the jet and helped steve get her inside, leaving it on autopilot as they flew to a place they knew would help her and make sure she would get better. Whilst in the jet, they managed to get the shard out but were unsure if any had broken off inside so the two men tried to keep her as stable as possible until they reached Wakanda.

Its been a few hours since they reached the African country of Wakanda. King T'Challa welcomed them with no problem and had already had his sister and the doctors prep to help with Natasha once they arrived. Even with their technology and medical advancements, they still didn't let steve into the room as they worked on her, so instead he waited outside, the procedure hadn't been that long anyway. They had stopped the wound from bleeding and get any last bits of concrete that had broken and sealed up the wound, then pumped her with fluids and healing agent that would regenerate the cells to repair the scar tissue in her body so she wouldn't even be left with a mark after it had healed. It was miraculous what the Wakandan's could do and how much they were willing to help.

Once they had finished patching her up, the doctors let him inside, she was laid on the bed in a white gown, with just a pillow beneath her head and a thin blanket on top to keep her covered. It wouldn't be long until she woke but it made her comfortable until then.

Seeing her lying on the bed, her hair splayed out on the pillow, knowing that the reason she was asleep was that she was injured made steves heartache. He knew he shouldn't think of the 'what ifs', not when she was absolutely fine, but he couldn't help himself.

He imagined what would have happened if they didn't have T'Challa on their side. That Natasha could have possibly died without the proper medical treatment she needed. Himself and sam could only do so much. He wished they should have double-checked all their intel before going in with riad, god, he couldn't even think about how he would cope if he ever lost her, he'd be devastated, probably turn himself in to the government and just let them have him. but he knew he couldn't take it back. But at this moment, watching her breath in her sleep relaxed him a little, knowing she was fine. She was safe. And she wouldn't feel a thing when she woke up.

Reaching over to her face with his hand, steve gently moves his hand to the side of her face to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. His blue eyes scanned over her face one more time before a sudden thought enters his mind once again. That drawing. She still hadn't found it, but he'd never shown her much of his sketchbook anyway. But it crept up in the back of his mind, especially in moments like this. The thought of asking came to him whilst he watched her, she would wake up and he could just blurt it out. He'd known since they were even together that there was no one else for him. But even if it had been over a year, he didn't quite know if she would be ready for him to ask.

So he decided not too and pushed it into his mind once again. One day hell ask, but it has to be the right moment.

4.1 month before the snap.

This felt familiar.

Lying in bed, in a low star motel, holding the woman he loved in his arms after a few rounds of sex.

In fact, this felt even more familiar, since as he held the blonde Russian all he could think about was marrying her. It had been almost a year since he drew that little sketch in the back of his tattered book. And the idea of asking her was getting stronger by the day.

After their last round of sex, the two curled up in each other embrace and talked their way to sleep, talking about anything and everything that entered their mind in that moment. For Natasha, she was too exhausted to stay awake as long as him and fell asleep not too long ago with his arms wrapped around her back as she laid on top of him with her head on his chest. But Steve, he didn't mind. He got to lay in bed, holding a beautiful woman close to him who he loved. He wouldn't dare move. Natasha was completely out of it and finally relaxed after a few nights of watching their 6.

Turning his head downwards, his eyes landed upon a pile of blonde hair on his chest and a face that it belonged to. She looked perfect. So calm. Like she had no worries in the world. Like it was just the two of them and no one else.

Then steve starts to think about if they lead a normal life. If they had a normal life they could fall asleep like this all the time, they wouldn't have to run every day with the fear of getting caught and thrown in jail. He could see her beautiful face on his chest every day before carefully leaving her in bed whilst he made her breakfast to bring up for her. He could call her his wife. He could get used to calling her that. She would be his wife and him, her husband. He would finally be someone's husband. And not just anybody but Natasha Romanoff's. They would officially be each other's . He lets his thoughts consume his mind until he finally falls asleep himself. But his last thought before he does is that he doesn't know how or when but he needs to ask her soon. Whether it be next week or a few days. He's going to ask her. But he needs to find the right moment.

Natasha tells him she's pregnant.

He was an idiot. A big idiot. Here Natasha was trying to tell him she was pregnant and he thought she meant she wanted to expand the house. Yeah, he's an idiot.

"You're pregnant? You're really pregnant?" he breath catches in his throat, the full weight of his words caught up to him as he realises what he's actually asking her. And then she nods.

Steve breathes out a laugh, practically in shock he picks her up at her sides and swings her around in a circle, hugging her close. The redhead laughs at the sudden movement and when he finally puts her down, he kneels on both knees and pulls her closer at her hips, instantly reaching for her shirt to pull it up slightly so he can see her bare stomach. There wasn't anything there and he knew there wouldn't be a bump for a couple more months but just knowing that right now, a baby was growing inside there made him almost pass out.

As he holds her in his hands, steve leans in to kiss her bare skin, just below her belly button. He can feel her fingers start to run through his hair as he does. Once he pulls back he tilts his head back to look up the love of his life. His partner, his spy, the woman who one day would be his wife and all he could do was marvel at her.

Steve was literally consumed in awe at the woman before him, he always had been. Ever since the moment, he had boosted her of his shield to catch a ride on one of the chitauri's ships all those years ago.

She was amazing. And had given him everything he thought he never even wanted or could even have.

And then, once again, a thought came to his mind. He had just said she would one day be his wife. The drawing. He hadn't seen it since he's been back. Hed almost forgot about it actually. That small drawing of a ring he had sketched so many years ago.

There was no doubt about it. He needed to ask. But not now. If he asked now, he felt like it would seem like its just because she's pregnant. She deserved better than that. But this was the final push he needed. He already knew he wanted to ask but this just gave him that extra inspiration to do so.

Looking back at her stomach he gave it another quick kiss before he whispered into her skin.

"I love you so much already."

And so began the planning.

Plus 1 - The Proposal

It's been 4 months since Natasha told him she was pregnant. 4months of ideas and plans to propose, all that would fall short or weren't good enough for him or even the wrong timing. But that was kind of their thing. He needed it to be perfect but he couldn't find the right way.

To make things simple. A few days after Natasha had told him she was pregnant, he took James over to tony's to see morgan, but whilst he was there he asked tony to help him. He needed to find a ring maker, to make the exact ring he wanted. And he needed the best. He would laugh at himself when he catches himself thinking.  
'Only the best for my girl'

Tony was more than happy to help, of course, tony had jokingly poked at the new sketch he had made of his mother's ring since it wasn't as extravagant as tony would have picked, but steve quickly gave his explanation about the ring and how it would be a replica of his mothers. Sarah rogers had been buried with her ring since steve hadn't been able to find out what she wanted to do with it when she died.

But he somehow knew that if his mother was here, or even watching him right now that she would want him to give it to Natasha.

Leaving the sketch with tony, he let the genius handle the arrangements for the ring, which thankfully hadn't been too long. About a month later Once it was done, the soldier took his son over to Tonys once again to get the ring. And it was beautiful, even tony had admitted it was amazing, even for his 'over the top' tastes. When hed first glanced at it, steve had stopped breathing for a second. It looked exactly like his moms, it was too breathtaking to describe with words. Natasha would love it. It was just enough.

Its a bit chilly on the mid-December night. Even with the heating running through the house, the two avengers still lie close up against one another, soaking up the warmth from each other.

They lied in their usual position of steve spooning Natasha from the back and he holds her to his chest and keeps his arm wrapped around her stomach, protecting their unborn child, she had just started to show last month and the bump was quickly getting bigger every day.

At around 2 am, steve is awakened with a poke. His eyes flutter open slightly in confusion, trying to figure out why he was being woken up. And then he feels it again. A little poke in his shoulder. Carefully pulling away from the redhead in his arms steve turned his head and torso around to see the figure stood at the side of the bed. It doesn't take him long to figure out its James in the darkness.

"Jamie? What are you doing up bud, are you okay?" his voice is a little horse from waking up in the middle of the night but he whispers as best he can.

"I had a nightmare daddy" James's little voice sounded shaky as he told his father what was wrong.

Steves eyebrows furrowed for a second at his son's words, immediately worrying about his son. Glancing back at Natasha asleep, he carefully pulled himself from out under her and swung his legs over the bed, gently picking James up at his sides and carrying him on his hips as he stands up.

"How about we get you a glass of warm milk huh? And you can tell me about your nightmare okay bud?"

James snuffles slightly into steves neck as his father carries him out of their room and downstairs but he nods as steves words.

Once the two boys reach the kitchen, steve sits the young boy on the counter then efforts manoeuvres around the kitchen to pour his son a glass of milk and warm it up for him. After it's done, he passes it to the little blonde and leans against the counter with his arms.

"You wanna tell me about your nightmare?"

"You and mommy died, because of Thanos and me and the baby were left alone and no one was there to save us. Everyone was gone."

Steves heart almost broke at how sad his son looked. He could see the remnants of tears on his little lashes from where he's been upset. Pushing his arms up, steve stood up to his full height once again and took a few steps towards his sons so they were eye to eye.

"Oh Jamie, you are not alone. me and mom are not going anywhere, I promise you. Thanos is gone remember? We got rid of his ages ago. You don't have to worry about anything okay? We are never going to leave you or the baby."

Steve could see in his son's eyes that James felt better already. And the enthusiastic nod that followed confirmed it. Talking the empty glass of milk, steve put it in the sink and picked up his son from the counter once again, holding his to his side. The glass of warm milk must have done the trick because it didn't take a few steps up the stairs before James had fallen flat to sleep against his shoulder. Steve let out a little laugh at the sight, feeling a slightly cold patch on his shoulder now from where James had drooled on him. Shaking his head with a smile, steve carefully tucked James back into his bed, kissed his forehead and left the room, quietly shutting the door.

Taking a few strides across the hall, steve ended right back at his and Natasha's room. It's still dark inside meaning Natasha hadn't woken up since he left, but as he got close to their bed, he could see that shed rolled over in her sleep, so she was on her back, comfortable in the middle of the bed. Her bump was sticking out, the pyjama top she was wearing, which was his by the way, curving around it so you could see it better. Her long hair was all over the pillows, the blonde and red flowing everywhere. She looked beautiful. He would never tire of this. Never.

As Steve pulled the cover to get back into the bed, he couldn't help but stare at the bump. A baby was growing in there. Their baby. The midwife and doctors had told them at their last appointment that their baby had just started to develop ears, and that they could actually hear both mom and dad and other noises. It had fascinated steve to no end. Even now, as he looked at the bump, he thought about talking to the baby again.

So not to disturb the redhead, steve shifted himself down the bed, until was laid on his stomach to the left of Natasha, just at the same height as the bump. For a few seconds, Steve lets his insecurities get the better of him. He's nervous. Really Nervous. Technically this is his first baby. Yes, he has James, his son. But he missed out on the first years of his life. He wasn't there to witness his first words or steps or even to change his diaper. He had no idea what he was supposed to do with a baby.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Steve opens his mouth, ready to talk the baby inside Natasha and gently takes his hand to place on top of her bump, careful not to startle or wake the redhead.

"Hey, there baby. I don't know what to say since I've never really talked to you before. But I guess I'm doing that right now aren't I? Your big brother Jamie had a nightmare tonight, about me and your mom. He was afraid he would lose us. I just want you to know, even though you probably have no idea what I'm saying right now since it's all mumbly to you and I probably sounds like an idiot. That I love you so much and so does your mom, we are never going anywhere and we'll never leave either of you. So when you're finally here, you gotta help James remember that, and I'm sure he'll help you too. Your both the most precious things in my life and I guess I'm just a little nervous, to be honest. I just wanna make sure you and James have the best life." sighing the super-soldier dropped his head, letting himself release his thoughts to the baby. He needed this. Even just a small confession about his worries had made him feel like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Your such a good dad."

Natasha soft voice startled him slightly, not having realised she had woken up when he had been talking to her bump. Lifting his head, blue eyes meet green in the dark. Natasha lifted her hand to his face, placing it on his bearded chin she moves her thumb back and forth stroking it and he looked at her lovingly.

She's woken up about halfway through his speech to the baby, she was quite amazed she didn't wake up when Jamie had come into their room, but instead, she woke up listening to the worries of her soldier as he held and spoke to their unborn child. She could get used to this, watching him as he spoke to the bump. After stroking his chin Natasha moved her hand to join his on her stomach, placing it on top of his own and threading their fingers together as they cradle it.

"You don't have to be nervous. You are amazing with James, I know you weren't here when he was a baby but ill soon get you changing diapers to make up for it." she teased him, her mouth curling in the corner to smirk at him.

Steve lets out a quiet laugh at her jokes and replies.

"Gladly" he knew she was joking but he would do anything if she asked. Everything he didn't get to do with James he wanted to make up for with their baby, steve wanted to be there for everything.

"Don't worry Steve, you'll be amazing. I know it." her calm words reassured him. Giving her one last smile, steve crawled his way up the bed, hoisting one arm over the top of her and the other hand on the other side, so he was hovering about her, his arms by the side of her.

Dipping his head down, steve captures her lips into a kiss, her soft lips melding against his own, like instinct for both of them. As he hovers above her he can just feel the swell of her stomach touching his own, Natasha's hands make their way to his face once again, cupping his cheeks and she kissed him.

After a few seconds, there's a thud. Only small and gentle. But it's there. Pulling away from the kiss, both Natasha and steve looked at each other with confusion and realisation.

The baby. The baby had just kicked for the first time.

"Was that-?" Steve asked.

Smiling at the excitement quickly spreading on his face and the feeling from inside her, Natasha gives him a nod.

"Yeah, I think it was."

Quickly pushing himself off the top of Natasha, steve crawled down the bed between her legs, stopping once he was at the same level as her bump and placed his large hands over it, completely covering the surface, Natasha also sat herself up, her hands shooting to her stomach and placing them on top of steves to join him in feeling the small movements.

After a few seconds, it happens again. A small kick. Steves's eyes lit up, feeling his child kick for the first time. This was the first time he'd ever felt anything like this, it mesmerised him.

"Oh my god." He's literally amazed. "That's our baby! Do you think she'll do it again tomorrow? I can't wait for James to see this."

"She huh? Don't worry I'm sure he will."

"Oh no, this one's gonna be a girl I know it."

And it's in this moment, right here, steve looks up from her stomach and at the woman he was in love with, who's looking down herself waiting to feel the kick of their unborn child once again. Steve decides its perfect. He spent months trying to plan a way to ask her, all of them not being good enough or not what she deserved. But he couldn't take it any longer.

Pushing himself away from Natasha on the bed, he jumps off and practically runs towards their bathroom, turning the light on while he's inside, letting some light into their bedroom. Natasha just sits waiting curiously as she watched steve runoff. But after a minute he's back, with one hand behind his back and his hair in disarray from rushing. He looks nervous, she can tell. But the hesitance in his eyes soon turns to confidence as he convinces himself to walk towards her.

As he takes each step he brings himself around her side of the bed, causing Natasha to follow him by turning herself so her legs are swinging off the side to face her soldier. The bump stopping her from leaning too far forward, making its presence known.

Once their face to face, steve falls to both his knees, bringing him to Natasha's eye level

"Natasha. I love you. No, I'm in love with you. I love Jamie. I love this baby, I love our life. Everything we have, sometimes I just can't believe it's real." his words cause her to smile. He always had a thing for romantic speeches but there was something different about this one.

"You're it for me. And I should hope you know that by now. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I want to be able to call you my wife." green eyes widen ever so slightly.

Sitting on his knees in front of her as she sat on their bed, with only the bathroom as a source of light for her to see, steve pulls his arm from behind his back and reaches it out to her. Uncurling his hand she sees a little black box, a box that looks too small for his large hands.

Natasha's eyes flicker in recognition of what this little box means. She tried to keep her face from giving her away but she can't help the smile that makes its way to her face as she looks between steve and the little box.

"This isn't how I planned to do this but it just felt right and I'm sorry if I scared you or you think I'm pressuring you…" he's rambling at this point but Natasha doesn't care, leaning as forward as she could, Natasha grabs steve by his shirt and pulls him to her, capturing his lips into a kiss, and cutting his words off as he falls into a natural rhythm of kissing the woman he loved. Their lips dancing with each other like they had done this all their lives.

After a few moments, they both pulled away breathlessly, their foreheads leaning against one another as Natasha still grabs his shirt and steve holds the box.

"Yes." quirking his lips up, steve teases her one last time.

"You didn't even let me ask."

"Then ask soldier."

Correcting his posture properly, steve straightens his back and pulls one knee up to recreate the iconic pose, like tradition. He then pulls out his hand once again, this time opening the box so Natasha could finally see what the box held inside and he takes a deep breath.

"Natasha Romanoff. You are my life. I can say with all my being that you're my soulmate."

And then came those famous 4 words. The 4 words he'd thought about saying for years. 4 words that if accepted would make her his for the rest of their lives.

"Will you marry me?"

"Yes, you idiot."

Instantly springing up from his kneeling position, steve leans over and kisses her. Their lips meeting in a passionate embrace as they pour their emotions out into the kiss. But then he pulls away, remembering the box in his hand. Looking down he pulls the ring out of the box as his eyes start to get wetter with his emotions and hold it between his fingers, ready to put the small silver ring on her finger as she holds her hand to him. Sliding the ring onto her, her eyes glisten over as she takes in the sight.

"Steve, It's beautiful."

"Its a replica of my moms, every time I thought about asking you, it was always this ring I imagined on your finger."

Natasha is taken aback slightly at his confession, both the fact that it had been specially made for her to look like his mothers and that he's been thinking about asking her for years.

Steve can see the shock on her face and quickly speaks to reassure her.

"Hey, my mother would be so proud and happy to know you are the woman I'm spending the rest of my life with and she'd be even prouder that you're wearing her ring."

Tears now dropped from her eyes making streaks on her cheeks at his words.

"I love you so much," she tells him. The only words she can release at the moment. She's too taken away to tell him anything else but is all he needs to hear.

"I love you too Natasha" 


	2. Romanova

Its the middle of the night, the sky is consumed with darkness, the only light that could be seen from the window was the very few stars and the moon, which happened to be full this night and the flickering neon sign of the crappy motel they were staying in in the distance.

Two bodies lay on their bed, practically occupying one space since their bodies were pressed so close up against one another. The spy and soldier weren't asleep, just laying there, enjoying the embrace of each other. In the silence, the only sound that could be hears was the soft noise of the covers moving as steve slowly moved his arm up and down to caress Natasha's skin.

As he laid on his back, she was pressed to his side, her right leg hooked over the top of him and her head resting on his chest, just below his shoulder. Under the covers, steves left hand felt along Natasha's skin as he caressed her thigh back and forth. He could still feel the heat coming off her as her breathing calmed down. Turning his head slightly, Steve looked down upon Natasha's head. Her blonde hair was spilt across his skin, slightly tickling him as she moved. With his arm around her back, he shifted it so he could play with the blonde strands between his fingers. If he could lie there forever he would. Right here. Preferably with no worries in the world but still, just here with her.

Just holding Natasha in his arms, the feel of her bare skin against his own after a passionate night. She was so soft, everything about her was, her hair, her eyes, her skin. She was perfect for him. Even the little things, her eyelashes and how long and curly they were, the very few faint freckles on her cheeks. He could lie there all day, just looking for more.

Natasha, whilst her head was on Steve's chest, was looking out of their little window, counting how many stars she could see, taking in the beauty of the moon, it had been a while since she got to enjoy something so simple. But as she stared at the moons glow, a thought entered her mind yet again. She had been having the same concerns and thoughts for a few weeks now, well 3 months to be specific. Ever since she and Steve had finally accepted their feelings and ended up together.

After a few minutes of letting Steve play with her hair, and thinking over, she finally had the courage to speak. Ready to tell Steve whats he wanted him to know. It wasn't something concerning or bad, it was just another part of her life she wanted him to know. That he deserved to know about her.

"There's something I wanna tell you. Something that I've never told anyone before."

He doesn't flinch at the sound of her voice. But his eyes flicker toward her face, a slight frown in his brow at her words.

"Okay, is everything alright?" She knows his frown is just his concern, and worry taking over him. In all honesty, Steve wore his heart on his sleeve. She knew he was happy to hear what she had to say, he loved to hear more about her. He never pushed her to reveal anything she didn't want to, he just let her come to him when she was ready. And this, well, it's possibly one of the biggest things she could ever tell him. Tell anybody about herself.

Lifting her head, Natasha turned her body towards him, just so she was laid on top of him with her elbow beneath her for support. Once she was steady, she took her right hand and gently placed it on the middle of his brow, softening out the crease between them. Softening the frown he was pulling.

"Yeah, it's fine, don't worry. You remember at Peggy's funeral when I told you that when I left after shield fell, I found my parents graves?" Steve gives her a little nod, he thought he was good as concealing his emotions but his face showed everything. He couldn't help but pull a slight frown at the memory. He was glad she found information about them but he wished it could have been better than just finding their graves.

"Yeah. I remember. You said you left some flowers right?"

"Yeah, I pulled some weeds… it's just... When I found them, they were old, really old." her eyes shifted away, looking across the room, trying to avoid his eyes. She was nervous, he could tell just by the way her voice got quieter.

"Well, considering you were a child when they were killed they would have been." he could understand, of course, they would be old wouldn't they? She was just a child when she was taken, maybe its the realisation that they were dead all this time that has her more quiet than normal.

But as soon as his thought left his mind, her eyes shift back to him instantly, her head lifting up a little more.

"No Steve. I mean really, really old. Not just like 30 years. I mean more like 90."

Steve's eyes narrow, the crease in his brow returning as he weighs the possible option of her words.

"Wait… what are you saying?" The blonde spy lets out a breath. Finally ready to reveal all to the soldier. Trusting him with one of her biggest secrets.

"Deep down I always had a feeling, some of my memories from growing don't make sense, especially since the RedRoom. I'm older than I look steve. A lot older. And it's not just that either. I was born Natalia Alianovna Romanova in 1923 to Ivan Petrikov and Anastasia Romanova. "

Steve's eyes widen in shock. From not only learning that Natasha was now in fact 93, but she was also only 5 years younger than him. But also to learn of her parent's names. One of which sounded extremely familiar to him. He wasn't stupid. He knew what connotations the name Romanova and Romanoff had. He had been born the same year the royal family had been killed and he'd heard countless teasings from Tony in their previous years towards the redhead. But he had never for one second even considered that maybe it was actually a possibility. That the Natasha who he had been best friends with and now his lover was royalty and even a princess.

"Woah, wasn't that was the name of the princess that was assassinated though? I thought she was killed in 1918?" He had to ask. Just to make sure if that was what she was implying. Surely not, but could he really be naive not to believe this when he had only started to believe in gods and aliens in the past few years too?

She gave him a slight nod, her eyes wandering off as she explained to him. You could see her mind turning just thinking about it herself.

"There was always speculation about it, that's why they made the cartoons romanticising it. But she did escape, married a man named Ivan, they had a baby, they managed to stay alive and hidden for a few years until i was around 4 or 5 and then the KGB found them. They found out that she was the missing princess and killed her along with my dad.  
That's when they found me. They didn't know I existed, so when they saw a little girl hiding, they instantly knew that I was Anastasia's daughter. And what better girl to take to be one of their own agents and spies than the princess's daughter. I was young enough so they could brainwash me. Make me do anything they wanted. Freeze me so they could keep me around for a long time….I was their best agent because they wanted me to be. They loved knowing that their best agent was missing royalty." Her voice almost broke when she finished.

The words 'missing royalty' was obviously making her slightly uncomfortable. But Natasha had been raised and brainwashed to believe she was nothing. That she didn't matter other than to complete a mission. but of course, over the years of knowing clint and even himself and the rest of the Avengers, they've assured her she was more than that, they helped her believe it but to learn about all of this on her own must have been heartwrenching and hard. And sharing this with him must be even harder to say.

"Nat, I can't believe it. I'm so sorry about your family. You deserved so much better than what those people did to you. I guess you finally got closure though? You finally know what you wanted too. Even if it is shocking or scary."

"Yeah, I did. There's always been a part of me that wondered. If they were still out there. If they were dead. And now I know, it did scare me at first. Even just thinking about who I am was too much. But I finally got my closure."

Taking his hand that's wrapped around her. He brings it back up to her hair, stroking his fingers threw it as they sit in comfortable silence. With the feeling of her hair being played with, Natasha's eyes close whilst she enjoys it. She finally felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

But the peace she had found herself in didn't last long. She knew it was coming. The minute she had told him but she thought he'd wait a little longer. He just couldn't help himself but teases her.

"So this kinda makes you a princess right?"

Keeping her eyes closed, Natasha lets out a large huff and drops her head onto his chest. The hint a smile making its way on her face. He really just can't help himself.

Steve quickly catches a glimpse of her face and instantly starts to widen his smile himself. He throws his head back again, letting his head rest on the pillow as he teases her.

"Oh no, actually since Disney, is was Disney right? Made a film about it, your technically a Disney princess."

Natasha let out a loud groan, instantly regretting ever saying anything. Lifting her head back up from his chest, she rests her chin there instead as she looks down at his face.

"I'm going to kill you if you ever, ever. Call me that again."

"Princess Natasha Romanoff. Gotta ring to it don't you think?" He really was asking for it.

Shaking her head ever so slightly at him as he just grins up at her, she elbows him in the stomach, making him call out in an overdramatic yelp. But he stills lets out a laugh at her playful ways of attacking him. But before she can give him another hit he grabs both her wrists and flips her over, so he's finally the one on top. Once she's under him, she automatically wraps her legs around his hips but her arms remain pinned. She could get out if she wanted too but she quite enjoys the feel of Steve's weight above her, not to mention pinning her down.

As she smirks up at him, he smiles back down, his long hair falling into his eyes. She was never one for cliches but she could have sworn his eyes sparkled as he looked down at her, even with the darkness of the room.

"In all seriousness, I'm glad you told me, that you trusted me with this. But does this mean I can make old lady jokes too?" Natasha laughed. And not just a chuckle, but a laugh that from the belly. Did he really think he'd be able to get away with making old lady jokes? He was dreaming.

"Absolutely not."

"Okay okay, I'm sorry, it's just not every day i find out I'm lying on top of a Russian princess." Dipping his head, he burrows into her neck, quickly nibbling his way up her skin until he reaches her ears. Making her mouth open and her eyes close. He was trying to sweet-talk her, and he obviously knew how to get on her good side, and how to also tease her in the process. So she just let out a defeated huff, took back her hands from his grip and ran them through his hair and she pulled him closer until their lips were touching.

"I really regret telling you now."  
As steve smiled at the blonde, he quickly filled the space between them and captured her lips into a kiss. Making a small moan come from her lips. They would have carried on but the two were both exhausted. Instead, after a while, they both pulled apart and Steve wrapped her up in his arms, her back to his chest as he buried his face into the back of her neck. Breathing in the scent of her hair until he eventually fell asleep with his grip tight on her. Natasha also fell asleep soon after Steve too. She felt safe with him. Being cradled in his arms, protecting her and feeling his warmth keeping her relaxed. Sometimes she couldn't believe they had ended up together. That she was this lucky to have him as hers. And she was even luckier that Steve would accept her no matter what, whether he thought she was just a nobody who was raised to be a killer or that she was really the daughter of the most famous princess of Russia. In the end, she knew he didn't care where she came from, he just cared about who she was now. Natasha Romanoff. And she was his. 


	3. February 14th 2019

it's February 14th 2019. The day Natasha finally gave birth to her son. She didn't think it would be so hard to sign a piece of paper but turns out it was.  
Here's a little insight on how the day of James's birth went and the struggle Natasha found herself in at signing a piece of paper. But thankfully she didn't have to struggle alone.

It's the evening of February 14th 2019. It's still chilly out but just on the brink of spring. Not to mention it was also valentines day. And in all honestly, this isn't how Natasha thought her valentines day was going o go.

Within a new york hospital building, in a private room in the maternity ward, Sitting up in her hospital bed with the white sheets pulled up over her legs and up to her stomach is Natasha, and in her arms, she cradles a baby. The baby she just spent 12 hours in labour with. He was finally here, he was laid in her arms, nestled up close to Natasha's body as he slept. Every now and then letting out small coos as he squirmed in his sleep.

Natasha just couldn't believe how beautiful he was. He really was. She didn't think she would be one of those people that insisted on their child is the most perfect, but her baby really was. It was quite unfair really as she looked down upon him, His little eyelashes were crazily long, she was almost jealous. He had a small tuft of hair on his head the same as his fathers and his little eyes were the spitting image of his mothers. He hadn't opened them that much since he's only been here for a few hours but in the time she manages to catch him, she saw green shine through.

The avenger hadn't needed to wait long after giving birth for the nurses to bring him back to her. soon after delivering him, and letting Natasha have a hold of her son, they had taken him to clean him up, weigh him and clothe him in a little blue onesie that tony had brought from home. But on their own instance, since it was a special day, they had put a little white hat with a small red love heart stitched to it, on his head, along with every other baby in the ward that had been born today too. the nurses had told her they had been made by one of their volunteers and she usually did it every time there was a special day.

Natasha had rolled her eyes at first, but even she couldn't deny that it was cute. Seeing her little baby wrapped up in his small baby clothes and the hat too really just added that cherry on top of the cake. He was perfect. Full stop.

Since her boy being handed back to her, the nurses had come to teach her a few things shed need to know, they helped her with breastfeeding and helped her with changing him and handling him, she was too frightened at first since she thought she was too rough but the nurses had assured her that she was fine with him. Every new mother was afraid but she'd soon learn that he wasn't going o break f she picked him up. Natasha had her own serum, it wasn't as strong as steves but it still gave her advantages. Even with the extra strength, the red room had given her Natasha had been scared of holding James too tight just in case she hurt him.

Tony and pepper had stayed with her for a while, but they had also been here all day so she insisted they take a breather, go wait in the cafeteria and get some food. That had been half an hour ago and she had been in the same spot since they left. Right here in her bed, holding her son whilst he held her thumb in his entire hand, squeezing it with his impressively strong grip. She knew it was a more than likely possibility that her baby would inherit their serums, but even normal babies grips were strong. when Lila had been a baby she used to cling on to her finger for dear life, completely oblivious to the power in her small hands.

Suddenly there was a small knock on the door, snapping Natasha out of her thoughts. Looking up instantly at the end of the room, the spy watches as an older woman wearing the uniform of a midwife comes into the room holding a few papers in her hands. She cant be more Then 50 or 60, Natasha guessed.

"Sorry to disturb you honey but I've just brought over your paperwork for him. you know, birth certificate and all that."

Shaking her head in dismissal, Natasha smiles at the apology and quietly responds.

"Its no bother, don't worry, thank you."

Natasha takes the moment for the midwife to walk over as her chance to push herself up the bed, helping her to sit up a little straighter to fill out the documents. Carefully manoeuvring her left arm, Natasha takes it out from under James and takes the pen off the midwife, turning slightly to her side to where the little pull out table is with the birth certificate.

She started off fine, but In all honesty, she didn't think it was going to be this hard. It was just a piece of paper. It shouldn't have been this hard to write a few words on it but it was.

It had felt like she was on auto piolet when she had written her own name. but next to it was where she hesitated. To the left of her own section was the little Collom for FATHER. Upon seeing the word Natasha couldn't help but think about the very thing. Steve.

It shouldn't have been this hard to write his name.

Standing to the side, the midwife couldn't help but notice the sudden stillness of the mother as she waited for Natasha to finish the document.

"Is everything okay?"

Natashas eyes flicker at the sound of her voice and shift in the woman's direction. Gulping down a breath Natasha opens her mouth.

"Have you had many… women, I mean. Whose partners are gone?" the new mother's voices almost breaks as she says the word 'gone'. And her green eyes glancing down the little boy in her arms is a telltale sign.

Suddenly the older woman's eyes soften. Now understanding why Natasha had been bothered and hesitant to finish the certificate. Being careful to not wake the baby, the midwife gently sits on the edge of Natasha's bed, angling her body towards the mother and son.

"More than I like to think about, it been hard, these past few months since it happened. I know its not my place to say but this little boy your holding is a blessing. This is a new world now and you've been given a chance not everyone is going to get. The man you loved, he might be gone but he left you with such a precious little gift. I know I didn't know him, but I'm sure that he would be overjoyed if he was here. I'm so sorry for your loss, I just hope that you and your son can be happy."

As she listened to the kind lady speak, Natasha starts to feel a few tears run down her cheeks and fall onto the top she was wearing. Noticing the glisten on her skin, the midwife quickly grabs her a tissue for her to pat her cheeks dry.

"I really wish he could have been here, it's not fair." Natasha almost chokes at the last of her words, her emotions getting the better of her, normally she would have cursed herself for showing a complete stranger this kind of reaction, but for one day she's sure she could let it slide, after all, today she gave birth to her son. And this lady was easy to talk too.

"Oh hey now, don't cry honey. Life is rarely fair, but now you have him. That little baby in your arms and he's gonna be with you and needs you. So you gotta be strong, but no one's gonna judge if you need a day off sometimes. Or even if you need a good cry."

Natasha lets out a little laugh at the midwife's words. She was right, there are gonna be so many moments Natasha will feel upset about and it is okay if she needs to let herself go. There's nothing wrong with that. But she knew no matter what she wouldn't let herself fall down that rabbit hole too deep. She would be as strong as her son needed her to be. And she would try her best to make her sons life as good as possible.

During her thoughts, It was only now that Natasha had realised she didn't know her name, shifting her eyes quickly to the name tag she sees the name Elizabeth.

After crunching the tissue up and tossing it onto the table, Natasha Grabs the pen once more, Holding a newfound pressure to the pen in her hands, the former spy takes her arm and hovers about the title FATHER. This time, her hesitancy is replaced by pride, confidence and love. The name Steve Rogers glides smoothly with the pen.

Now just time for the name.

"you got a name ready for the little one?" Elizabeth asks, giving a nod down to the baby.

"James, James Samuel Clinton Rogers, steve would have hated it if I names our son after him, so I chose the closest people to the both of us." she neglected to mention that the name rogers had meant a hell of a lot more to her than her own name. James was his father's son and he would proudly carry that name for the rest of his life.

The midwife gives her a large smile and then glances back down to James.

"That's a beautiful name. James Rogers, welcome to the world."

After signing the last few boxes, Elizabeth gathers up the documents, peppers and pen and bids her goodbye and offers Natasha her well wishes, leaving Natasha and James in the room by themselves once more.

But as soon as Elizabeth had opened the door to leave, Natasha could hear the fluster of the woman as she stuttered at the large figure in the hall. The older woman must have known who it was. Natasha could see from the angle she was at but didn't seem to recognise it as a threat, more of curiosity really. But she didn't wait long for her curiousness to be answered.

Once the midwife and mysterious person had finished their little conversation, the man finally entered the room. And once he did, a large smile instantly appeared on Natasha's face.

In walked the god of thunder himself, returning the smile that his friend was giving him. His face beaming with brightness as he takes in the sight of one of his closest friends holding her newborn.

Once hed made his way in he gave the door a little budge, letting it close its self so the outside noise wouldn't disturb the little one.

"Thor, hey, I didn't know you were coming. I thought you were in Asgard?" Natasha was genuinely surprised to see him, it must have been tony that had told him about her.

After closing the door, thor had walked himself over the chair at her side, taking a seat as he stretched his neck t get a glance into the blanket in her arms.

"I was but Tony called to tell everyone that you were finally having this little one. I wanted to come. How else am I going to be his favourite uncle if I don't?" the blonde man gives her a cheeky smile, clearly teasing her. Natasha chuckles as her own lips curl at the side at his words.

"You might have some competition there with tony, he was very adamant about being the best uncle there is."

Thor returns the laugh. He knew there was really no competition. They would all love that baby just as much as each other, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try to make himself James's favourite.

At the break in the conversation, Natasha takes the chance the adjust James in her arms, supporting his neck as she gently pulls the blanket down from around his face and only slightly holds James away from her chest.

"You wanna hold him?" thor only takes one gulp before his demeanour changes. From the frightened look in his eyes to a confident one as he sits himself up properly. She could see he almost refused but changed his mind instantly.

"May I?"

Taking her nod as his signal Thor stands to lean slightly over his friend, his hands ready to support the child as he brings him to his own chest, he's careful not to disturb the baby as he wraps his arms properly around him and sits back down in the chair next to Natasha's bed.

"You did a good job, I heard 10 fingers and 10 toes are a good thing" he jokes, gently tucking the blanket near his face under his chin so he can get a better look at the baby's face as he sleeps. Natasha just rolls her eyes at him, but not without the hint of a smile showing on her face.

But the curl in her smile falters only slightly, seeing thor hold her son makes her heartache. As much as she loves thor, it should have been steve sat next to her holding James. Or steve handing the little boy over to thor, boasting about the little baby as he shows James to everyone. Allowing himself the brag proudly.

Natasha just blinks the tears in her eyes, not allowing them to fall.

"What's his name?"

The green eyes that had wandered away in her reverie snap back to the man sat at her side.

Iof course! His name. She hadn't even told thor yet. Well, she hadn't really mentioned it to anyone.

"Its James. James Samuel Clinton Rogers." thors eyes flicker at the names she had picked.

"That's a brilliant name. It'll suit him quite well." thor recognised the names she had mentioned instantly. Having being told of bucky after the snap and his real name. Of course, he knew sam and especially clint. 3 people that they had lost because of what Thanos did.

"Steve would have loved it."

5 words and that was all it took for the tears Natasha had blinked away to come back again.

"Yeah he would." the moment was bittersweet. But of course, it would stick in Natasha's memory forever.

Today was the day she gave birth to her son. Her and steves son. Their little boy, who would one day, hopefully, grow up to be like his father. Just one look at that baby was all it took for Natasha to vow she wouldn't let James forget who steve was. What Steve had done and what type of man he was. James would always know who he was. And she'd never let him forget. 


	4. Like 'Love Love?

On the couch in the living area of the compound sat a mother and son wrapped under one blanket as the little boy leaned against his mom. It was getting late, the last of the orange tones of the sky was beginning to fade and the darkness of space replacing it, it was also close to James's bedtime but Natasha always let him stay past up a little longer on the weekends. It was just his little face, sometime she just couldn't say no when those eyes just like hers pleaded with his bottom lip pouting. Which always made her feel bad. He knew exactly how to play her and she always fell for it. Not that Natasha minded. He only ever stayed up for another hour at the most.

They were watching a film on Netflix, one of the old Disney ones from before the snap, her and James were making their way through the family section and now they had landed on the lion king. It wasn't until they got to the part of Mufasa dying that James hesitated to speak. He was normally a chatty kid when it came to movies, always asking questions about a word or what something was. Just like steve used to do when she was educating him on 70 years worth of movie history.

Natasha along with watching the movie had been keeping her eyes on James at her right side, snuggled in close. James was still so young, he knew that his father wasn't around and very vague details about Thanos, but he knew what had happened to Steve, and watching Mufasa die, she couldn't help but be reminded about steve once again. The small blonde started to wriggle in his spot, every now and then shifting his eyes up at her, she could tell he wanted to speak but was very hesitant to do so. So instead, Natasha decided to ask for him.

"What's up baby?" his face said it all. He looked like he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. But the sudden shock on his face was gone instantly when he scrunched his eyebrows in thought, ready to finally ask her.

"Can you tell me about daddy?" the redheads breathe caught in her throat for a second. In her heart she knew that's what he was going to ask, with the film they were watching too, it was going to be inevitable. But even after all these years, whenever James asked about his father, or even when Natasha herself thought about him, it made her heartache. James had only ever asked about steve a handful of times, it was always Natasha bringing the soldier up, enforcing her promise to tell him all about steve since the day he was born.

Taking in a breath Natasha holds it before letting out a sigh. With the arm she had wrapped around James she pulled him closer into her side and then travelled it up into his blonde hair, smoothing it out of his eyes as she looked at him. He looks so much like steve, Natasha thought, if it wasn't for the fact he had her eyes, it would be like looking at Steve as a child. Or even looking at one of the pictures of steve before the serum.

"of course I can baby. What do you wanna know huh?" his little eyes went wide, sparkling in the dim light from the tv, his excitement at her question beaming through as he started to make jumping motions.

"Everything"

Natasha laughs at his answer, his enthusiasm never ceased to amaze her.

"Okay okay slow down." James got a little bit in over his head sometimes, with questions or just even his energy. The number of times James had fallen over or scrapped his knees because he got too excited was more than enough times for her to count.

James turned his body to face Natasha better, still clinging to her side so he could look up at her as she spoke. He truly was a mommas boy.

"What was he like?"

She didn't even need to take a second to think about her answer.

"Well, he's the most amazing man I ever met. You know you're just like him?"

"I am?" James's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. Fascinated to think that he was just like his father.

"Yeah, your both sweet, kind, he loved to draw too, and you both like getting yourselves into trouble when I specifically tell you not too."

This makes James giggle, he never meant to get into trouble as he claimed, but somehow he always did. He shined a cheeky grin at his mother, playing innocent.

"Did he get into trouble a lot?"

This time it was Natasha's turn to laugh, thinking of all the times she had shouted at steve for doing reckless things or using his own body as a shield to protect her. Sometimes it was even the simplest of things. He was so self-sacrificial, he always put other people before himself without a single thought.

"Oh, big time. Sometimes I even shouted at him." James gasped. Natasha never shouted she was always soft-spoken with him. There was only a handful of times he had heard her shout and when she did it was usually because of something really bad. So his dad must have gotten into really bad trouble for his mom to shout.

"I didn't know about him until i was older, the people who raised me told me about him, at first I didn't believe he was real. He seemed too good to be true and most people I had met weren't that very nice. So when I finally met him I was blown away. But I didn't tell him that. then we worked together for a couple of years, and during that time I got to know him better, we became friends and we trusted each other. He became my best friend."

"I thought your friend clint was your best friend?" James knew of clint but of course, had never met him. Clint was still out there after all this time, he missed seeing his nephew grow up. And James missed out on another family member. Thanos had truly taken so much from her and even from her son. But she didn't want to alert James to her worries, so she shrugged it off in a playful way. Gasping dramatically and smiling at her boy, Natasha spoke.

"I can't have more than one best friend?" The small blonde giggles at her sarcasm, but for him, he was genuinely curious. He had only really ever had morgan as his friend. His best friend in the world. So the idea of another best friend was silly.

"Clint will always be my best friend, my closest and oldest friend but your dad was special. He was more than that. In fact, your dad was the first person I ever loved."

"Like 'love love'?"

Asking if it was 'love love' took her by surprise. Taking a second to pause, she thinks about James's question. He was only a kid, to him, the idea of love was pure and Something you only find in fairytales. Love love to him was true love. As she looked down at him again she noticed hoe his eyes shining. The fascination filling them up, waiting for his confirmation that true love existed. And in all honesty, who was she to deny that what she and steve had was true love? She had never loved anyone as she loved him. And she knows that steve hadn't either.

Curling her lips up slightly, Natasha finally answered his long-awaited question.

"Yep baby, love love. And he was the first and only person to ever tell me he loved me too."

Suddenly the fascination fell from his eyes and was filled with confusion. And sadness?

"The only person ever?" his small voice asked.

"Uh-huh." it sounded sadder than she intended but she stroked his hair over again, and gave him a little nod, some of her hair falling past her shoulders to dangle down at the front.

"I love you, mommy." Natasha's heart, for lack of better words, melted. Her little boy truly owned her heart, he had obviously been curious and wanted answers, the answers he found made him want to reassure her that steve wasn't the only person who loved her.

"Oh Jamie, I love you too baby." he was too goddamn sweet. Just like his father. pulling him a little bit closer, Natasha lowered her head down and placed a kiss to her son's forehead. As she did, she could feel the cold wetness of a tear threatening to fall from her eye. But she quickly blinked it away as she pulled back, just before James could see.

"Tell me more!" the moment didn't last long, his sweetness was forgotten when he remembered about her story and his excitement was soon returned.

"Okay, then we found out the people we were working for were actually bad guys."

"No way!"

"Yep, I and your dad had to work together with uncle same to bring them down. But your dad got injured really bad so we had to wait for him to get better before we met again. And then when we did, he went to go find your uncle bucky."

"Is uncle bucky the one I have the same name as?"

"Yeah, baby. He was your daddy's best friend when he was younger. So he left to go find him. And I went somewhere else. I Didn't see him again until a few months after that, Ans even still, he hadn't changed one bit, he never gave up on trying to find bucky. He was so brave and would do anything for anyone. then there was a bad guy called Ultron who wanted to get rid of us but we stopped him first, after that we worked together again as partners training the avengers. And we became even better friends but it wasn't until about a year later that I realised that I loved him.

"Wow. A whole year?"

"Yeah baby" she laughs.

"A whole year. But I was afraid that he might not love me back so I didn't say anything. And then your dad and uncle Tony had a fight, a really bad one so we had to leave. And when we left, he got hurt again trying to protect me. So I yelled at him but he didn't do flinch at all. He wasn't even scared. He just told me he loved me."

James gasped. This was all too fairylike to him. He loved all the Disney films and this was practically a new one.

"He did? Did you say you loved him?"

"I didn't at first. I was still a little scared. He was the first person to tell me he loved me and he just wanted to let me know."

"What happened to him? You always say he's because of Thanos but what happened?" the redhead lets out a sigh. She had told him before but he was only young. His mind didn't really remember everything she told him. But she would tell him if he wanted to know. She promised herself she would.

"Oh Jamie, you know how a few years ago a lot of people disappeared? Right before you were born"

"Uh-huh"

"Your daddy was one of the people that went missing and we haven't found him yet. We haven't found any of them." the little boy stopped for a second. A confused look on his face as if he didn't believe her.

"But Uncle Thor said he was in Valhalla if he's there why can't we go and get him?"

Her heart melts. Her face is washed with realisation and sadness at his innocence. She didn't blame thor at all, he had probably only meant to comfort his nephew but James was still too young to comprehend the real reason why Steve was gone and that he was never coming back.

"Baby we can't get there. You know how thor is from another world? well, their Valhalla is like heaven for really special people. But we can't go, sweetie."

"Oh, I really wanna meet him." his little green eyes lost a bit of their sparkle once he realised that they wouldn't be able to go and that he wouldn't be able to meet steve. She hated seeing his little face so sad. But she tried her best to keep herself strong as she spoke. Taking her hand she places it under his chin to tilt his head upwards to look at her, and then she starts to stroke his hair once more.

"I know Jamie, he would really wanna meet you too. I know he's so proud of you. Wherever he is, he's always with us. Okay?"

Flashing her a small smile the child gives her a nod. They eventually find themselves engulfed into the movie once again and it isn't long until James is finally asleep in her arms. The stroking of his hair sending him into sleep. Steve used to do the same, she loved to run her fingers through his hair after he'd grew it out. And Steve was more than willing to let her play with it, even until the point he would fall asleep.

Reaching for the remote, Natasha switches off the tv and gently plants a kiss onto James's forehead right before she pulls him into her arms with a huff. Careful not to wake him. It was at moments like this she wished she didn't live in the compound so she didn't have to take a long walk back to his room, but she also couldn't deny that she loved to carry him back up.

After laying him down in his bed, she pulls his covers over him until it's tucked just below his chin, and it doesn't take long before the unconscious boy snuggles himself closer into he duvet and spreads out like a starfish to get comfy.

Giving one last look at her boy, Natasha turns his lights off and closes his door, finally heading back to her own room for some sleep. But after changing and laying in bed for an hour, Natasha just tossed and turned. Unable to relax to sleep. And she knew exactly why.

Deciding to get up, Natasha leaves her room to back downstairs to the common room. She switches the tv back on, waiting for a minute before she finally talks to Friday.

"Friday you up?"

"Always ma'am."  
Hearing the word makes Natasha's lip curl at one side. She still remembers the first time she ever met steve. And he called her ma'am.

"Can you play some home videos? Or footage from when we were all still at the compound? Just anything with the team. With steve."

Instantly following Natasha's command, Friday starts to play videos saved in her hard drive. Some she can recall from memory and some she had forgotten even existed. She watched as she and the original team sat around eating takeout in the old tower, throwing banter towards each other and teasing. She sees a group of people, more than just the 6 of them sat around trying to lift thors hammer right before Ultron. Then Friday shows her more videos. Private ones the AI probably classes as one that Natasha would want to keep on the down-low. Especially back then. Like herself knocking on steves door in the middle of the night, for him to answer just as quick so he could comfort her about a nightmare. Eventually, Friday starts to play more videos of just steve. Or steve with another member of the team and herself. Each one she can hear his voice coming through the speakers, his real voice that is too. Not his captain America voice sam always teased him about. But his Brooklyn one. She could just about catch it slipping through when he was most relaxed.

It was nice to hear it again, after all this time.

After a while, the redhead falls asleep on the couch and eventually, Friday turns off the videos so they wouldn't disturb her.

The next morning, James wakes up first, he's still in his pyjamas when he runs to his mom's room to wake her up but when he pushes her door open he sees she isn't there. A surge of panic shoots through his little body at not being able to find his mom but he knows deep down she couldn't have gone far. So James starts to make his way tot eh common room, a smile gracing his face at the sight of his mom laid down on the couch. He quickly starts to run over, immediately poking her shoulder attempting to wake her up. And it doesn't take a moment until the mother starts to stir. Her eyes squinting at the light until she sees the face of her little boy smiling at her.

"Mommy, how come you're asleep on the sofa?" he curiously asks. Natasha just sits herself up quickly stretching.

"Well, after I put you to bed I came back down to watch some videos and I must have fallen asleep before ic ould get to bed." picking him up at his sides, Natasha halls him up onto her lap where she sat. letting out a slight yawn and a smile at the 4-year-old.

"Which ones?"

"I'll show you, you'll love to see these."

Deciding to use the remote this morning instead of asking Friday, Natasha turns the tv screen on selects the most recently viewed video she had watched. And instantly the sound of laughter can be heard. It's steves. Sat with all of their friends from back int he old tower. Right before Ultron.

Giving a glance down at the young blonde Natasha tries to gauge his reaction. Jamie's face is watching intently on the screen, watching each person move and talk.

Eventually, he speaks up, calling out that he recognises the people in the video, some that he points out take him a little longer to guess. Like sam. He's only seen sam in pictures of course, so it takes him a second to recognise him, unlike thor, who he instantly gets excited to see. One by one he points out each avenger in the videos. Even the people he had never met, but Natasha had told him about. And then, he hesitates.

Natasha watches him curiously. Just like she had the night before. Waiting for him to say anything, to point to the man he knew.

"that's daddy!"

Flashing him a large grin, Natasha nods.

"Yup. that's your dad sweetie."

"He looks really tall. Is he taller than uncle thor.?" Natasha furrows her brows for one second. She can't actually remember if there was a big difference between the two men, but she knows she's never had to crane her neck so far back with steve unlike she does with thor.

"I don't think so, I think he's just a little bit shorter than uncle thor.

Then Natasha hears a little 'Wow' under his breath. Stunned that steve could be all tall as his uncle. She just chuckles and holds him tighter as they both listen to the sound of their friends and family talking. That's how they spent the rest of their morning. Watching old videos. And James was more than happy to ask her a million more questions about everyone. Especially his father. And in turn, Natasha was more than happy to answer every single one of his questions. She was glad he had asked. Both the night before and this morning. She promised the day he was born she wouldn't let him forget steve and she would keep that promise no matter what.

. 


	5. The Most Beautiful Sight

Never in a million years did she think she would ever see this place again.

She thought herself privileged to even see this room in the first place 6 years ago. And she would have been grateful if it was just that one time. But yet, here she was, once again. On the 21st of April 2025.

Sitting in a hospital bed, holding her daughter. Her daughter.

The daughter she thought she'd never had. The daughter she was currently holding just because of steve. Steve, the man who came back to her. The man she loved. The man who gave her the best things in her world. Things she could only have ever dreamed of having years ago. Her son James and her daughter. Sarah

As she tiredly gazes down at the little one in her arms, Natasha can only focus on her little girls face. Sarah's mouth was slightly open and her tongue only just poking out. Her skin was so pink and new. Not to mention the full head of hair she already had. All of it red. Just as deep as hers. But her eyes. They were all steves, Not a single fleck of green.

It was quite amazing how both of her children were blessed with different features. Both of them the opposite of each other. But still, both perfect.

Steve had been by her side every second. Holding her hand, stroking the sweaty pieces of hair out of her face. Even sitting behind her and rubbing her back through each contraction. It didn't matter how much she had shouted at him or squeezed his hand. He never left her side. To be fair, this was the first time he had ever experienced this. He wanted to do everything right. The only time he had left her side was just about 10 minutes ago.

Some of their friends and family had come to the hospital to be there for the two of them, and some had stayed back. Two of which were looking after James for them whilst they were at the hospital.

After she had gone into labour, she and Steve had instantly called the dynamic duo, bucky and sam to ask if they would take James to the compound for a while until the baby was born. To which they both happily obliged. They'd also been tasked with babysitting duty by tony and pepper too, taking care of morgan also so they could come to the hospital. It wasn't long ago that the two avengers had made their way over with both kids, and Natasha guessed that right now, morgan had probably run over to her parents and was asking a million questions about her and the baby, and steve was excitedly trying to tell James about herself and the baby whilst also trying to break up whatever argument or bickering that sam and bucky had gotten themselves into again.

Which left her here. In her room, holding her baby girl.

But then the door started to open, Natasha's eyes snapped up, expecting to see her son and steve making their way in but to her utter surprise it was neither. The person who had walked into her room was an older woman. With a face that Natasha instantly recognised.

Elizabeth?

Surprise was shown on her Natasha's face instantly whereas the older lady's face showed happiness.

"Elizabeth?" Natasha whispered over her breath. The midwife heard and just waved a hand, coming closer into the room until she was at Natasha bedside.

"Oh, I'm surprised you remembered this old face of mine." Natasha let herself smile at Elizabeth's teasing, but her eyes remained soft with respect and adoration.

"Of course I would, you helped me a lot that day." Elizabeth's smile remained wide.

"It's so good to see you again. When the ladies told me that Natasha Romanoff was in this room I just had to come and see for myself."

The redhead let out a small laugh at that, being careful not to move her body so she wouldn't disturb her baby. Sarah wasn't asleep but Natasha didn't want to cause her to cry by any sudden movements. The baby seemed quite content just sitting awake listening to the woman speak.

"I didn't realise all those years ago who you were. I'm getting old, I don't keep up with superhero stuff as the kids do. But when everyone came back and the news told us all about what happened, who saved everyone. It clicked. Your little boy, his father was Captain America."

Natasha nodded, deciding to listen to all the midwife had to say.

"You brought everyone back, including him. That little one your holding…"

"Yeah, she is," Natasha answers her question before she can even ask. She knew the midwife was struggling to find the words to ask. A question of if her and steve reunited and if the baby she is holding is theirs.

At Natasha's answer, Elizabeth's smile gets even bigger. Over the moon that Natasha and steve had once again come back to each other and created a new life.

"Oh, that's amazing. I'm truly happy for you, both of you. How is your son? He must be so big now than when I saw him."

"He's amazing. Just like his dad. Steves bringing him to see us soon. He just turned 6."

"6? Oh, I am getting old." Elizabeth laughs along with Natasha. Still amazed to realise that little James is now 6. But soon she remembers why she came up to see the redhead. Papers and documents. Just like last time. In her daze of laughter, Elizabeth leans over to pull the table out at Natasha's side, placing the papers on top. But before she can get a chance to sign them, the door opens once more.

Both women turn their heads, the sound of steps filling their ears as a tall man holding a child make their way into the room.

"Mommy!"

Natasha beams at her little boy in steves arms, glad to finally see him again. Steves reaction is just like hers, happy to finally be back with his family. In his entrance, he sees the midwife and offers her a smile. Steve just thought she was a nurse who came by to check on Natasha and the baby. Natasha had told him about the day James was born but she only vaguely mentioned this woman.

"I'm Elizabeth, I was just bringing some papers for you both to sign for the little one. I can leave you for a moment and come back, don't worry. And congratulations." Natasha gave a nod to Elizabeth, thanking her for leaving them to have a moment.

"Oh thank you, and nice to meet you Elizabeth." steve quickly returned her gesture. Feeling rude not too.

Elizabeth gives him a quick nod and also one to Natasha, leaving the room and closing the door, giving them all the privacy they needed.

Interrupting the little moment of silence is James. His face glowing brightly as he looked at his mother and the small blanket she had in her arms.

"Mommy is that her?" glancing down at her arms, Natasha checks the baby is still awake, only to be met with the clear blue that tells her she is.

"She sure is." steve instantly walks over to Natasha, carrying James over so he can get a better look at his sister.

"James, this is your sister. Sarah." steve proudly announces. Just like he had with pepper and tony. Natasha had never seen a sight like it. Both Steve and James looking at the baby she was holding with nothing but love in their eyes, James filled with more excitement at meeting her for the first time. then, carefully pushing the pull out table aside, steve gently moves James in his arms, getting him into a position so he'll be able to sit properly at his mother side. James is very careful once he's sat, for a moment he just sits there and stares at the baby. In awe at seeing her.

The paper finally returning to his mind, steve asks.

"Hey what are those papers for?"

"Oh, just Sarah's birth certificate and the other documents. I can fill it out later," she explains as she carefully moves Sarah in her arms so James can see her better.

"Hey, I can do it, don't worry." steve insists, but Natasha raises an eyebrow and smirks at him.

"You better not mess up her name steven." steve gapes in the offence, his mouth giving her a slight smile at her teasing.

"I'm not gonna mess it up, I know how to spell it."

"Mh hm" he knows she's only playing with him, her little humming pretending to second guess him. He lets out a small laugh and takes the papers from the pull-out table, taking them over to the guest table at the side of the room. After looking over the few documents and signing them, he finally gets to the birth certificate. Natasha had told him that she struggled to sign his name when she had James since he was gone. He knew she wouldn't have a problem this time around and neither did he. Writing in both the mother collum and the mother Collum he easily writes Natasha Romanoff and then steves rogers. As he does his face has the biggest smile he can muster.

It's official. Really official. His name is right there. Under father. He couldn't help but feel a massive amount of pride shine through him. That was his name, signed big and clear. After letting his excitement get the better of him, he finally gets to his daughters part. His daughter. It's still so incredible and stunning to think that not only does he have a son, but also a daughter. His little girl.

Speaking of which, as he goes to fill out her section and write out her name he looks up from the paper, his eyes instantly landing on the 3 most important people in his life. Natasha, James and Sarah. As he watched them he sees Natasha gently wrap her arm around James to pull him closer so he can see right up close and cuddle up to his mother. Shes also talking in hushed tones with him, explaining that he has to be very careful with her since she's so small and new. James sits staring up at his mother listening to her every word like gospel. Eventually, with Natasha encouragement, he slowly lets Sarah grab hold of his finger, letting her hold onto him as she curiously looks around.

It's the most beautiful sight he could ever see. Will ever see. And he's never felt so lucky. So blessed in his life.

Glancing back down to the birth certificate he readies his pen to finally write.

Sarah Anastasia Carol rogers.

A name they both agreed on, he had no quarrels at all with his daughter carrying his mother's name, Natasha had insisted on it actually, they also chose her Natasha's mother's name and also carols. Natasha had told him nearly everything about those 5 years, that carol was the first one to find out about her being pregnant with James and how comforting she had been. Natasha thought it was only right she gives her daughter the name of someone that helped her so much when she needed it. And steve more than respected the other captain. In fact, they had become great friends. Bonding over their similar experiences in life. It was only fitting.

So after finally finishing his daughter's papers, steve stands back up and walks around Natasha's other side, gently wrapping his right arm around her shoulders as he half sits on the bed.

As Steve looked down at his daughter, the soldier could only think about how beautiful his daughter was. And that she got it all from her mother. He knew one day, when she was older she would look exactly like Natasha. Her full head of bright red hair was already evidence of that. Taking his free arm, he moves his hand so that he can caress his daughters head, softly stroking her hair. Leaning forward, he gently places a kiss onto her head. To which she just squirms in her mother's arms and squeezes James's finger tighter.

"Shes really strong mommy" he giggles

Letting of a small huff of laughter Natasha leans over to kiss his forehead and answeres back

"You were the same when you were little too baby."

As the mother and father sit in silence for a few seconds whilst James talks to his little sister, steve furrows his eyebrows in remembrance. The midwife.

"the midwife that was here, Elizabeth. did you know her?"

"Yeah, I did. She was the same midwife that brought me James's birth certificate back then too." the smile on Natasha's face was bright as she explained who Elizabeth was.

"She was really kind, talking to her was what I needed, and she gave me some really good advice. I never forgot it."

A bittersweet smile graces his face, he would forever regret not being there for Natasha, even if it was beyond his control. But Natasha was strong. She did it all by herself. She raised James to be such a good little boy with a pure heart. And he was here now. That's all that mattered in the end. He came back. And he was given the best things in life. Natasha could practically see his thoughts all over his face, so she just leaned in closer to him. Their noses gently touching as she captured his lips into a kiss. And as soon as she did, she could feel his tenseness melt away. Instead just sinking into the kiss. After a few seconds, they pulled away. Quickly focusing on James and Sarah, as she began to wriggle more and more stretching her legs and James giggling that she would keep pulling o his finger and making noises.

Soon enough the four were eventually joined by tony and pepper once again, with a ecstatic morgan and also by sam and bucky who were also excited to see their new niece. And not surprisingly it didn't take long for then to start arguing over who was going to be the best uncle. But what they didn't know what that, thor and the guardians were making their way back to earth to see them too, and no doubt thor would join in on the argument too, boasting that he was, in fact, James's favourite uncle so it would only make sense he shall be Sarah's too.

Natasha grimaced at the thought. She was never going to catch a break with these boys.

But she wouldn't have it any other way. 


End file.
